AIP FYI #20: FY 2004 NSF Request: Physics, Materials Research

The Bush Administration is seeking a 9.0%, or $453 million, increase in
funding for the National Science Foundation, as compared to its request of
one year ago. The new request of $5,481.2 million is 14.8% greater than the
foundation’s FY 2002 budget.

The FY 2003 appropriations bill for the National Science Foundation has not
been enacted, so it is difficult to determine what baseline to use in making
effective comparisons. In the review that follows, the new NSF budget
request will be compared to both the Administration’s FY 2003 request and
the FY 2002 budget.

A fact sheet distributed at the NSF budget briefing last week identified
nanoscience and engineering as a priority area that holds “promise for
significant breakthroughs in science, education, and technology.” It also
stated that “For the first time, NSF will surpass $1 billion in 2004 for
funding programs in the mathematical and physical sciences, which would be
$100 million above the 2003 budget request. This increase renews support
for physics, chemistry, and materials sciences – disciplines that are
important to continued advances in the health sciences and other areas.”

The following are two of the physics-related subactivities from the FY 2004
NSF budget justification to Congress. Readers wishing greater detail than
that provided below may consult the budget document at
http://www.nsf.gov/bfa/bud/fy2004/toc.htm Future FYIs will review other
physics-related and the Education and Human Resources budget requests.

PHYSICS SUBACTIVITY: Up 12.5% or $24.2 million over FY 2003 and up 11.0% or
$21.6 million over FY 2002 to a total FY 2004 request of $217.5 million.
The budget document explains:

“An increase of $10.68 million in research projects to a total of $140.30
million. PHY will continue to support forefront areas of physics, with some
emphasis on particle and nuclear astrophysics, computational and
information-intensive physics, quantum information science, biological
physics and on advanced R&D towards next generation particle accelerators
and gravitational wave detectors. Education and outreach activities will
receive continued emphasis: enhancing K-12 science teacher training,
expanding diversity within the research community, integrating research and
education, and broadening the role physics plays in new and emerging areas
of research, including the training of young physicists. Part of this
increase will provide support for the new STC in biophotonics ($3.96
million).”

The budget document continues, “An increase of $13.51 million for
facilities and research resources to a total of $77.20 million includes:
support for full operations of the Michigan State National Superconducting
Cyclotron Laboratory’s radioactive ion beam facility for a total of $15.20
million; support full operations of LIGO to a total of $29.0 million as the
lab focuses on coincidence observations between the lab’s two detector sites
as well as with foreign gravitational wave detectors; and an increase of
$1.51 million for CESR operations to a total of $21.0 million, to enable
exploration of critical weak and strong elementary particle interaction
phenomena and to sustain the important accelerator physics research activity
at Cornell. Early operations of the LHC ATLAS and CMS detectors will be
supported for a total of $10.0 million. Development of grid computing
capabilities will continue at a total of $2.0 million.”

MATERIALS RESEARCH: Up 12.2% or $26.8 million over FY 2003 and up 12.2%
or $26.8 million over FY 2002 to a total FY 2004 request of $246.12
million. The budget document describes the following “enhancements and new
activities:”

“DMR will increase support for the NSF priority area in nanoscale science
and engineering by $5.30 million to $76.23 million in FY 2004. The increment
will include partial support for up to five new nanoscale science and
engineering centers, support for new awards through core programs, and
support for the National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network (NNIN).
Overall DMR support for other NSF priority areas (ITR, BE and Mathematics)
will increase by $1.36 million to a total of $12.09 million.

“Support for research into the fundamental physics and chemistry of
materials and investigation of materials phenomena in DMR core programs will
be enhanced by up to $10.0 million, primarily through awards to individual
investigators and focused research groups. This will include enhanced
support for Quantum Science and Technology (QST), using the coherent control
of quantum phenomena toward applications that may include quantum computing,
mesoscopic physics, the manipulation of nuclear or electronic spin states,
quantum electronics in nanoscale organic and inorganic materials, and the
probing and manipulation of materials processes and properties.

“Up to $2.0 million will be provided to establish four to five additional
Partnerships for Research and Education in Materials in FY 2004 (formerly
Collaboratives for Materials Research and Education in the FY 2003 Request),
enabling minority-serving institutions to strengthen their research and
education activities in materials through links to existing materials
groups, centers and facilities. Support for international collaboration in
materials research and education through centers and disciplinary research
programs will be enhanced by up to $3.0 million, and $1.80 million will be
provided to establish two to three new International Materials Institutes
through open competition.

“An additional $4.50 million will be provided in FY 2004 to enhance
operations supporting fundamental research at DMR user facilities, and to
plan the development of new mid-scale research resources, including
synchrotron and neutron beam lines whose cost and scope is beyond that of
the NSF Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) program. This amount includes
up to $2.0 million to support initial planning for beam line instrumentation
at the DOE Spallation Neutron Source (SNS).

“DMR support for the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory will be
unchanged at $24.0 million in FY 2004, although an additional $500,000 will
be provided to the NHMFL through the Chemistry Subactivity to support the
integration of the National High Field Mass Spectrometry Facility into the
NHMFL.”

Richard M. Jones

Media and Government Relations Division

The American Institute of Physics

fyi@aip.org

(301) 209-3094